Discectomy next month & GP complaint

saintly_2

I havent intended to do it maliciosly just wanted the OP to know that its not all sweetness and light and give a balanced view. We saw 2 people who had the same op as him at the same time an its really worked for them, he must just be in the unlucky %, sorry OP if i have scared the crap out of you, wasnt my intentions. Just to echo what everyone is saying, take it easy!! Ive just checked out his discharge book and its def in there about sitting for 10 mins only, could be diff advice in diff hospitals

Parva

Regarding the 2nd part of your post I am going down this route. I had suffered pains in my right thigh since 2004 and just kept getting ever increasing doses of painkillers and Amitriptylene and kept getting sent for physio (which I clearly stated everytime actually made the condition worse) until October 2011 when I went down a waterslide in Cyprus and broke my femur. Several hospitals and 2 months later I returned home having had to undergo a hemipelvectomy due to bone cancer, ie. I lost my entire right leg and pelvis in order to prevent the cancer spreading to my body. I now have to undergo regular chest xrays to ensure that the cancer went with the leg.

I corresponded with one of the no-win no-fee outfits (this one's not one of those advertised on TV, it's a local solicitors that deals in this stuff). So far it's taken 13 months (obtaining medical records from all hospitals and doctors, submitting to other professionals etc) and we're still a looooong way off anything really happening. The first thing I did do on my return to the UK was to change doctors however. Once I got the solicitors involved I was called in to a meeting with one of the practice managers at the old doctors and it was good to be able to air my views and receive her honest thoughts on the matter (she too was a doctor).

I would suggest you think long and hard before going down this road, perhaps try to get some answers first maybe because it is a long and drawn out process. Even given the outcome of my condition it's very much in the balance whether I will actually 'win' anything,

GlasweJen

You'll get nowhere suing your GP.

When you sue for medical negligence they need to see that the action/inaction of the medical professional made a catastrophic impact on you. In Parvas case the medical professionals inaction led to losing a whole leg and half a pelvis - that's a huge psychological hit, physiologically Parva can no longer do some things that people with two legs can do and has suffered things like loss of earnings, increased costs related to care/rehabilitation etc.

These are quantifiable losses and you need a quantifiable loss before you can start with medical negligence claim.

Had you not had the means to go private and then discovered something like Parvas case, or if a butcher of a surgeon leaves you wheelchair bound like in BrassedOffs case then there would be a claim but you can't sue the NHS because the GP wasn't quick enough with the paperwork.

If you want to change surgeries then this won't be a problem, just walk into the surgery you want to use and ask to register.

HB58

In order to prove negligence/malpractice, three questions will be asked -
1) Did the doctor/s have a duty of care to you? The answer is clearly 'yes' as you were a patient of theirs.

2) Was there a breach of this duty of care? If the doctor/s following widely appoved guidelines, the answer will be 'no'. certainly in my area, the guideline is to refer to an expert GP for epidural and only procede to MRI if that is not beneficial.

3) Did that breach cause you any harm? If it can be shown that your outcome is the same as it would have been if you had been seen by the surgeon sooner, then the answer will be 'no'.

All three of these conditons must be satisfied in order to bring a successful claim.

funguy

As in the post above, The GP did not breach the duty of care. What a lot of patients do not understand is that GPs cannot just refer anyone for scans. There are local pathways imposed on GPs which they must follow - the example in this case is the referral to the clinic as a first step. In some areas of the country - everyone with back pain must be referred to a physio first by all GPs. In other areas GPs can never refer for any scans except a simple xray. These guidelines vary from area to area and are not GPs simply being obstructive.

Private doctors will always tell you what you want to hear and always say that "you should have been referred sooner" and "i cant believe your GP didnt do this or that". They are not having to follow the same guidelines and also have a vested interest in keeping you happy as they are being paid handsommely for the priviledge!

Corelli

I believe the doctor did not refer me appropriately, a joint clinic was not the right place to be, the doctor there was not prepared to inject my spine.

At A&E I was told I needed further investigations, and after 4 months of chronic severe pain I should have been referred to a specialist, presumably a neurosurgeon. However, I doubt it is in my notes that I was questioning that this 'joint clinic' was the appropriate place to send me and that they were refusing to consider anything else.

Probably. once the first doctor had referred me there the subsequent people I saw noted I had been referred onwards without looking to see exactly where I had been referred to.

Anyway, the formal letter of complaint has now gone in, with the observation that this issue should be looked into and not repeated and that if I have long term problems because of the delay I will be taking it further.

Point taken about private practitioners saying different things about what should and should not have done, but the neurosurgeon I saw privately did not say anything of the sort. I have had advice that this was not handled very well by health professionals with no personal interest at all and a doctor who is not in this country but is a close friend, he could not believe what was happening to me., advising me in a concerned friendly way and saying how he and his colleagues would be handling my case in his country but not being critical of my GP as he could not examine me or see my notes, or know where I was referred until I phoned him in tears after waiting so long for what I thought would be an epidural and was not.

Parva and BrassedOff, you have terrible experiences and I don't pretend mine has been anything as bad, I am truely sorry this has happened to you both and hope that suing and further treatment brings some good results.

Saintly, I'm not worried by what you said, I know there is always a risk and as I've been googling and looking at other forums I was not surprised to read your post. The advice was well absorbed - as to the taking careful note of what I should do in the recovery period.

Thank you every one for your contributions.

Oh, the looking for a new GP issue, I know how to do it, and my area abounds in them, but I haven't got the foggiest idea as to which practise would be sensible to move to. Asking around makes sense, but every one seems to have issues with who they see. Sadly.

Parva

Playing devils advocate, I can see that it's hard for GP's to actually 'know' that a patient needs referring for this, that or the other, our own descriptions of our pain levels can vary so much. Indeed in my case (detailed above) an independent doctor appointed by my solicitors has only suggested that my doctor went wrong in June 2011. Considering that the femur broke in October and the leg was amputated November that doesn't sound like a promising outcome to me considering that my first registered complaint about leg pains was in 2004.

The practice I was registered with actually ran a training course for all doctors after my 'event' to help them spot it as I was the first they had ever seen. I'm now minus my right leg, the case rumbles on, I may get nothing at the end of it but I may also have spared someone else going into that surgery the loss of a leg hopefully...

yully

with regards to your allergies to the normal dressings - in theatre they have a wide range of dressings to choose from - make sure when they ask you about allergies you mention you're allergic and they should ensure you have a different dressing on - hope everything goes well.